Pet surgeries generate controversy

Buster the Siamese cat didn't always spend all day hiding in the garage. For 10 years, he had full and happy run of his owner's house.

Then, nine months ago, Henderson resident Tom Chase took in a roommate with a miniature pinscher pup.

Chase, an on-air personality and program director for KSNE-FM, 106.5 describes Hera as "14 pounds of dynamite."

Buster is declawed, which renders him defenseless against Hera's nipping. Luckily for him, the dog can't fit through the cat door to the garage.

"Hera, quit it!" Chase yelled as Buster's face swats proved no deterrent to Hera's attacks.

"This is exactly what I'm talking about," he said. "He just thinks he's another stuffed toy to chew on."

The decision to declaw was Chase's ex-wife's.

"She was concerned about her good furniture," he said. "So, for peace around the household, I went for it."

But now Chase has joined a growing chorus of animal lovers opposed to surgeries that convenience the pet owner while potentially endangering the pet. These include declawing, debarking, ear-cropping and tail-docking.

"I wish I didn't do it," Chase said. "Just one claw in the face and Hera would get the message."

All of these surgeries are painful and carry a small but real risk of death from anesthesia or wound infection. And declawing and debarking are always, to some extent, disabling.

"We are seeing so many more declawed cats on the streets since the recession started," said Karen Layne, president of the Vegas Valley Humane Society. "They have no way to fend for themselves, or even to get up a tree to get out of the way of danger."

Declawing is still performed at most valley pet hospitals. In fact, according to a poll conducted last October by petside.com and The Associated Press, nearly 60 percent of pet owners approved of the procedure. Petside, which described the results as "alarming," speculated that people erroneously analogize declawing to fingernail removal.

"It's amputation down to the first knuckle," said Dr. David Henderson, owner of Sunrise Veterinary Clinic. "I always try and talk people out of it."

Henderson -- who routinely declawed cats until 15 years ago -- now recommends alternatives: scratching posts, close weekly trimming or filing, and Soft Paws (vinyl caps that glue onto a cat's claws and last about a month).

In a more comforting trend to animal lovers, only 8 percent of the pet owners polled by Petside approved of debarking.

Dr. Bill Taylor of Mountain Vista Animal Hospital performs three or four ventricular cordectomies per year.

"You go in through the underside of the neck, you cut open the larynx and spread it open so you can see the vocal cords," he explained, "and then cut them away."

Taylor sees "nothing wrong" with the procedure, saying that most dogs are happier afterward "because they're not getting yelled at to shut up all the time."

Layne doubts how muting any creature can ever increase its happiness, and counters that debarking robs dogs of their ability to alert their owners to dangers -- both to themselves and humans.

"What if there's a fire?" Layne asked. "People don't think of these things."

Henderson recommends collars that trigger either a spritz of citronella, or an electric shock, at the sound.

"Even that's kinder than debarking," he said.

Taylor doesn't disagree that better methods exist.

"Normally, when people come to me to do it, it's because they've tried everything else," he said. "Almost every one of the people I've done the surgery for are at the point of having to get rid of the dog."

Ear-cropping means slicing off the outside portion of a dog's ear cartilage, then taping the remainder to the head so it will stand. Tail-docking typically amputates all but two vertebrae of the tail. Both procedures are typically performed on days-old Dobermans, Great Danes and boxers while under local anesthesia.

These procedures, purely aesthetic, owe to a preponderance of breeders who value the look. In fact, the American Kennel Club's website calls ear-cropping and tail-docking "acceptable practices integral to defining and preserving breed character and/or enhancing good health."

Camino Al Norte Animal Hospital in North Las Vegas performs tail-docking, although its Dr. Scott Johnson said that ear-docking is farmed out to Tropicana Animal Hospital. Johnson briefly attempted to justify the cosmetic surgeries, before inquiring about the angle of this story and abruptly ending the interview.

"You have to understand that the people who own the pets, this isn't like owning a person," he said. "It's legally like owning property. While there are certain guidelines that they have to adhere to in terms of how they take care of these animals, they're still the property of a client, and if they're presenting this situation, where something like this has to be done for them, then that has to be weighed as well -- as long as it's a good home."

Henderson was more succinct in his opinion.

"I really think these procedures should be outlawed," said the vet, who performed ear-cropping himself until 20 years ago.

"Then it just dawned on me: What the hell am I doing?" he said. "I'm doing a cosmetic surgery that has absolutely no function. At least declawing and debarking have some sort of function.

"I guess I'm a little bit ashamed that I ever did it."

A representative of the Nevada Veterinarian Medical Association, who declined to be interviewed, said the agency has "no position" on any of these surgeries, which are as legal in all 50 states as they are controversial.

"That's between the vet and the pet owner," the representative said.

Layne had a suggestion for any pet owners considering one or more of the procedures, however: "I would recommend they do these things to themselves first, then decide if it's such a wonderful deal."

Contact reporter Corey Levitan at clevitan@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0456.